The Home Office carried out a consultation on proposed changes to its Assisted Voluntary Returns programme which would take effect in January 2016. We responded to put forward reasons why it is important that people in receipt of local authority support continue to be eligible for assisted returns.

Part 1 of the Care Act 2014 came into force in England on 1 April 2015. When government consulted on the regulations and statutory guidance, we raised several concerns that the legislation failed to fully address the additional considerations that must be made when people with NRPF require care and support. Within six months of implementation a judicial review case was considered by the High Court. The court's determination addressed some of the issues that we raised regarding when accommodation may be provided under the Care Act and how the availability of asylum support must be considered.

Additionally, the government's amendment to the exclusions to support set out in Schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 was far from clear in terms of what could and could not be provided to people who are in the excluded groups, but the Department of Health and Home Office have since clarified this to us, as reported in our practice guidance.

Local authorities may refer to our practice guidance​ for information about providing care and support to adults with NRPF under the Care Act 2014.

Related documents:​

​ Schedule 3 of the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and the Care Act 2014 (13 March 2015)​ Submitted to the Home Office and Department of Health.

​NRPF Network response to the Department of Health consultation on the Care Act 2014 (14 August 2014)

Cost shunts to local authorities

NRPF service provision remains unfunded by central government, yet government policy decisions impact​ on service demand and case resolution. After we put forward evidence of this in 2014, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has undertaken work to understand this burden and inform its submission to the annual spending review. London Councils have also examined cost pressures in this area in their Executive Committee Report​.

Government has committed to carrying out a New Burdens Assessment to evaluate the impact of all the provisions of the Immigration Act 2016 on local government so it remains essential that local authorities evidence caseloads and costs incurred usingNRPF Connect​.

Related documents:

​Briefing for LGA Asylum, Refugee and Migration Task Group Meeting(20 January 2015)

Submitted to the Immigration Minister.

​Key pressures on local authority NRPF service provision(22 December 2014)

Submitted to the DCLG, December 2014.

Local Authority support to individuals and families with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF): Policy considerations for Local Authorities and the Home Office (3 February 2014)

Submitted to the DCLG Home Office Immigration Enforcement Roundtable, February 2014.

Related news items:

EEA nationals - welfare benefit restrictions

In 2014 the Government imposed a series of restrictions on access to welfare benefits for EEA nationals and their family members. We responded to the consultation on one of the proposed changes highlighting our concerns about the impact on local authority​ NRPF service provision. ​

Government policy to restrict access to mainstream benefits for people who have leave to remain in the UK and to switch off access to employment and services for people who do not have any immigration permission is likely to result in more destitution​ and homelessness amongst migrant communities. We submitted written and oral evidence to the Communities and Local Government Committee's inquiry into homelessness in order to highlight that:

Migrant homelessness is not adequately recorded or monitored.

There is significant hidden homelessness within migrant communities, which also includes children.

Government policy regarding access to welfare for certain groups of migrants is a direct cause of homelessness.

Immigration policy developments are likely to result in increased homelessness unless engagement with affected migrants is undertaken to find appropriate pathways out of destitution, including return.

Safety net support provided by Social Services is not a long term solution to alleviating migrant homelessness; local authorities need to be proactive in resolving cases and supporting efforts to help migrants find pathways out of destitution.​

​The Immigration Act 2016 was given royal assent on 12 May 2016. The first commencement order has been made setting out provisions that have or are due to come into force. The Act contains a number of measures which will impact on local authority NRPF service provision, including the removal of asylum support from refused families and introducing new local authority support for certain families and young people leaving care. The factsheets below set out what we currently know about the proposed changes. Government has yet to confirm the implementation date so it is unclear when these changes will come into force. ​

Other provisions in the Act aim to make it difficult for people without immigration status to self-support and remain undetected in the UK. We expect the combined effect of these provisions to drive more referrals into social services and lead to more destitution in our communities.

NRPF Network factsheets outlining local authority support reforms:

Immigration Bill 2015-16: local authority support for families (England)

Immigration Bill 2015-16: local authority support for care leavers with no immigration status (England)

​The Ministry of Justice consulted on increasing the fees that a person must pay to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber. Although there will be an exemption for families supported under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, no exemption​ is proposed with regards to adults or care leavers bringing non-asylum appeals who are supported by local authorities. The government did not agree to extend the exemption to these groups in its response and despite significant opposition to the fee increases, the new rates were implemented on 10 October 2016. However, the government reverted to the old fees a few weeks later.

Since the family migration Immigration Rules were overhauled in July 2012, the NRPF condition has been imposed on migrants who have successfully applied for leave to remain on the basis of their family or private life in the UK (10- year settlement routes), including those in receipt of financial support from local authorities. We have put forward local authority concerns about the application of the policy, which has since been found to be unlawful and subsequently revised. We continue to raise issues with the policy and cost implications for local authorities with the Home Office.

Related documents:​

Home Office policy on granting leave to remain with recourse to public funds and local authority support as evidence of destitution(20 August 2014)​

Submitted to the NRPF Steering Group (comprising of the Home Office, DCLG and others)

NHS charging ​

People with NRPF may be charged for hospital treatment when they are not in an exempt category. This generally applies to people without any current immigration permission. There is no specific exemption for people in receipt of local authority support (who will be receiving this because they are destitute and there is a child in need in the family, or they are an adult with care needs). The government has recently responded to its consultation on extending charging to other areas of healthcare. We have used this opportunity to put forward the case for an exemption and raise concerns about widening the scope of health services that may be charged for. Disappointingly, an exemption has not been considered and people in receipt of local authority support who are liable to be charged will be required to pay for non-urgent treatment upfront.

​The Department for Education has consulted on the revise draft of the statutory guidance that local authorities must follow to plan for the provision of support for looked after children who are unaccompanied asylum seeking children, unaccompanied migrant children or child victims of modern slavery including trafficking. We have provided a response highlighting that the draft guidance needs clearer information about the responsibilities of local authorities in accessing legal advice (in light of recent Local Government Ombudsman investigations) and about the exclusions to leaving care support which may affect some children when they are 18.